I will always return
by Cnrbrr
Summary: When war breaks out Percy is conscripted and taken away from Annabeth. How does she deal with losing him to death or will she get the reunion she always hoped for. AU NO GODS PERCABETH and hints of Thalico and Jasper (set in WW2) ONESHOT!


***DISCLAIMER* as much as i would like to i don't own Anything to do with the Percy Jackson series all rights go to Rick**

**OK! I have had a moment of inspiration and decided to put this down on paper. This will be a one shot that is all. Hope you enjoy it. AU no gods, WW2.**

Annabeth POV:

I was there that day, when the letter came. It was sunny that day, with a faint breeze blew through our small garden. I gazed up at my husband lovingly, and he rewarded me with a kiss. I straightened his tie, before he collected his briefcase and headed to his job. He worked in marine biology and he simply adored it, meanwhile I was the assistant to the CEO of the largest Architecture firm on the eastern sea board. Due to the time period, gaining a higher position than that was highly unlikely, I had always dreamed of being an architect but due to the fact I was born without a 'piss aimer' I was unable to climb the ladder as easily.

Like that would stop me.

Luckily the CEO was my brother. He knew of my talents, and decided he would discreetly make my dreams a reality. So I would work as his secretary during the day, then at night I could pursue my real passion. I would then pass Malcolm my drawings, which he would present as his own. He always gave me a significant cut, officially labelled 'Secretary Bonus' but we both knew what it was. In all honesty I didn't care about the money, I just loved creating things. It was also funny watching Malcolm stutter trying to explain 'his' drawings.

I strolled confidently into work, happy that I had completed yet another complex building, the site of which was in upstate New York. It was exactly 2:22pm when the news reached us. Pearl harbour had been attacked, although the radio broadcast never said it, we knew we were at war.

The next few weeks and months were hectic, I watched as young men signed up for a war they were too young to comprehend. I watched their families were slowly torn apart with worry every time the post man came to the door. I watched them dreading seeing the small American flag, signifying the loss of another life. Such is the horror of war. Then came conscription.

The first to go were the factory workers, the 'unskilled' members of society. To the government those men were just more numbers, they didn't care about their families, their lives. No they just needed men to fuel the ever growing fire of death that was slowly turning the world to ash. Next they came for the young people who were sensible enough to not throw their lives away for the old lie.

"It is a great honour to fight and die for your country" that's what we were told. I tried not to laugh at the thought. I had been forced out of my job and now spent my days in a factory. My hands, once so smooth, were rough and covered in oil. I was the person who got the job of oiling the new guns, making sure they worked before being sent to 'the front'. I tried to remember how I had spent my life before this war, but I came up blank. Nowadays I'm so tired, I make it home and just sleep, but I would have sacrificed any social life and do this for the rest of my life if they just left Percy.

I sobbed uncontrollably the day his letter came. He sat me down and tried to console me but there was no stopping me. I tried to look up, but every time, all I could see was him in a coffin. I just closed my eyes and prayed it was a dream. Just a dream.

LINE BREAK

It rained the day he left. His small suitcase sat by the door, his bus ticket held firmly in his hand. He gave me a final kiss and a hug before he uttered what could be his last words to me.

"No matter what, to you I will always return" he said calmly, looking me dead in the eyes. For a second I almost believed everything would be alright. Almost.

Four long months past, he had completed his training in the Navy and was soon to be setting out for Japan. I knew the fighting over there was intensifying, and for the first time since he left I found myself truly frightened. So far he had merely been in America. It was training, nothing that dangerous, but now.

I sat in for two days before i convinced myself to leave the house. The only bonus of this war was that I had become much closer with the neighbours since Percy had left. Many of them were mothers or wives to men who had been sent away. Men who had been taken from us. Some had lost people, while some still had to cope with the waiting. Always waiting, waiting for news they were alright, or that they were…gone.

We tried not to think about it that way.

We all went about our business. Factory by day, then frantically scouring the news in the evenings for any hint or a sign of what was happening. I almost pitied the post man, he was such a nice old man, much too old to fight. Yet everyday he would arrive and bat off the nervous women who were left to wait for any news. A letter from a loved one almost always evoked jealousy for everyone else, and a death helped us come together to cope. I had learned that Percy was being joined on his ship by two other men from our neighbourhood, so I became very close to those women in particular.

Thalia was married to one of the other men, Nico I think it was? Apparently she was close to Percy as a child until their fathers had a falling out. She now deeply regretted that she never knew he lived only a few doors down. The other was Piper. Her natural beauty made me instantly jealous, but she was never stuck up about it. In fact she often tried to cover it up. Her husband was Jason, and apparently he was a pilot before the war, and now he was flying planes off an aircraft carrier. Nico had joined Percy in being a gunnery recruit (Don't know if this is a real position). I was happy that Percy had people around him from here, but I would rather he were here to meet them.

Then it came. The dreaded letter. Letting us know the ship had gone down. We came together that day to cry.

_To the dearly beloved of Perseus Jackson. I regretfully inform you that the USS YORKTOWN has been attacked and sunk off the coast of midway, with a complete loss of life._

That day my life stopped. I screamed at the postman, and began to lash out at anything in the vicinity. My pillows took a beating that night. The next day I managed to control my longing for long enough to make it to Pipers house. Inside I found Thalia passed out, she woke up when I entered the room, and at the sight of me she immediately burst into tears once again.

"It's real. It's actually real" she began to whisper. Piper and I rushed to console her, before we all burst into tears, crying together at the loss of our loves. I didn't know whether I would be alright ever again. They held the funeral a week after the letters came. We lowered three empty caskets draped in flags into the ground. They never recovered the bodies of any of the boys. I can honestly say the world had never looked darker than in that moment. No more could I gaze upon the loving eyes of my husband. Never again would I see his crooked grin. The same grin that could light up my life in a heartbeat.

His mother found me, and we cried in each other's arms until the sun went down. We were both soaked through, but we never noticed. We would never notice small things like that ever again.

Time skip – end of war VJ day (victory over japan)

I sat quietly in the graveyard. I was kneeling before the grave of my Percy, trying and failing to restrain the tears.

"Hey seaweed brain" I sobbed out "We won today. So they tell me that 'your sacrifice wasn't in vain'…but they don't know what it's like. They don't know how broken I have felt ever since you left. How horrible it was getting that letter, watching them lower your empty coffin slowly into the earth. They don't know they just don't" I said, burying my head in my hands.

I don't know how long I sat there crying, the silence enveloping everything. Until a strong hand clamped down on my shoulder. I didn't even bother to look up, I assumed that whoever it was may rob me, they may even kill me. But I didn't care. I had nothing worth stealing, and life didn't seem quite so bright anymore since he had left.

"I do know wise girl" I heard whispered above me. My neck snapped up and I hungrily drank in what I saw. Standing towering over me was a haggard looking man. He had messy raven hair and swirling green eyes. The same green eyes that I had fallen in love with so many years before.

"Percy?" I asked, hoping beyond all hope.

"It's me wise girl" he replied softly, before I leapt into his arms. I began sobbing again, but tears of joy this time.

"How" I managed to eak out, between sobbing sessions. He looked up sadly before replying.

"When the ship started going down, I was with two guys from here called Nico and Jason. Neither were great swimmers, but we managed to get onto a life boat. We were separated from everyone else as the ship split in half. We only just made it away in time." He said, a lone tear rolling down his face. I hugged him tighter before he continued "then we floated for a few days until we were picked up by the Japanese. We spent the last three years in one of their prison camps. But I kept fighting because I knew I was coming back to you" he said looking me dead in the eye. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him in for a kiss. I knew all those years ago when he said he would return, he had meant it. He was the one stick in the fire that refused to burn, and I loved him for it. As no matter what, I knew he would always return.

**HEY GUYS THANK YOU FOR READING! CAPS ARE AMAZING! So yeah I was super bored and was like ONE SHOT! Then this monstrosity spewed forth onto the page. I was listening to a bunch of cheesy music to get in the mood, twas awesome! Also i did a bit of research into this, and the time of the radio announcement is accurate along with the actual USS YORKTOWN went down off midway, though not sure how many people actually died.**

**Fallin' for you – Colbie Caillat**

**Please remember – Leanna Rimes**

**I will always return – Bryan Adams**

**Between Now and Forever – Bryan White**

**Give them a listen :D thinking of maybe doing a song fic with them? Let me know if I should. Thanks again CNRBRR**


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